A festive family gathering took an unexpected turn this past Christmas when a simple plan to share holiday cheer online led to a lengthy silence between a mother and her adult children.
The dispute reportedly centered on the selection of photographs for a social media post. The children, now in their twenties, voiced strong objections to certain images being used, leading to what was described as several hours of bickering. The mother, hoping to post a casual photo from a church visit, expressed frustration at the escalation, noting the pictures were innocuous scenes from their holiday.
This incident is not the first time photo preferences have caused familial friction. Last year, the parents opted for a radical solution: they created their annual holiday card without their children featured at all. They cited years of tedious negotiations and vetoes over image approvals as the reason for the exclusion, a decision that initially left the kids feeling overlooked.
The card in question instead featured the couple in a festive, playful setting, which they described as a joyful and successful alternative.
The episode highlights a modern parenting dynamic, where adult children maintain a strong sense of control over their digital likenesses, even within the family sphere. It also touches on the adjustments of life as empty-nesters, a transition the mother has spoken about publicly, acknowledging the initial strangeness followed by a new, liberated domestic normalcy. The family had been celebrating the season abroad, where one of the children was participating in a performance.